Violence against Aboriginal, First Nations, Native American, Indigenous women. This forum looks at the issues, news updates, initiatives. This forum is dedicated to the families and friends of the hundreds of women who are missing or have been identified as murder victims throughout Turtle Island. We acknowledge the Creator's blessings on their souls and spirits in their new journey.

It is too early, in this Interim Report, forthe National Inquiry to make findingsand recommendations resulting fromthe Truth-Gathering Process. However,the National Inquiry wishes to:• endorse and build upon many of therecommendations that have been madeto date in a variety of inquiries, inquests,commissions, human rights complaints,and independent reports;• make calls for immediate action; and• make recommendations on the NationalInquiry’s process, which we hope willlead to a better way forward.The process of gathering information andevidence will continue. We will be gatheringstatements, stories, documents, researchpapers, photos, and art to be taken intoconsideration. Following the Truth-GatheringProcess, we will make conclusionsand recommendations on issues at the coreof our mandate in the Final Report.

To date, there have been multiple inquiries,inquests, commissions, human rights complaints,and independent reports that havedealt directly or peripherally with systemiccauses of violence against Indigenous womenand girls in Canada. These studies have revealed multiple and compounding social,economic, cultural, institutional, and historicalcauses that keep Indigenous women andgirls vulnerable to generations of violence.Many of these studies also make concreterecommendations and point to solutionsthat have already been put forward buthave not been implemented. This maybe for lack of political or social will,limited funding, or for other reasons.We will continue to base our work on thesefindings and recommendations of those whohave gone before us. As the National Inquiryfocuses its attention on systemic causes ofviolence and concrete actions to end violence,with a decolonizing, gendered, human-rightsframework, we endorse and will build uponexisting recommendations. These include:• Federal, provincial, and territorialgovernments publicly acknowledging andcondemning violence against Indigenouswomen, girls and LGBTQ2S people;• Federally coordinated, crossjurisdictionalnational action plans on:• addressing violence againstIndigenous women, girls, andLGBTQ2S people;• public education and greater publicawareness of violence againstIndigenous women, girls andLGBTQ2S people;• compensation for family membersand/or a healing fund for survivorsand families;• properly resourced initiatives andprogramming to address root causesof violence against Indigenouswomen, girls, and LGBTQ2S people;• improved access to safe housingfor Indigenous women, girls, andLGBTQ2S people;• responsive, accountable, andculturally appropriate child andfamily services;bridging education (primary topost-secondary), skills training,and employment gaps betweenIndigenous peoples and nonIndigenouspeople;• addressing the disproportionate ratesof poverty among Indigenous people,and Indigenous women specifically;• accessible and culturally appropriatehealth, mental health, addictions,and trauma services for Indigenouswomen, girls, and LGBTQ2S people;• programming for Indigenous mento help break and prevent cycles ofviolence;• protecting Indigenous women,girls, and LGBTQ2S people involvedin survival sex work or who are beingtrafficked for the purposes ofsexual exploitation;• improving relationships betweenpolice services and Indigenouscommunities;• properly resourced and accessiblecommunity and restorativejustice measures.• Law reform and/or repeal ofdiscriminatory legislation, includingpersisting gender discrimination underthe Indian Act;• Repudiation of concepts used to justifyEuropean sovereignty over Indigenouslands and peoples such as the Doctrine ofDiscovery and terra nullius;• More comprehensive and ethicalinformation-sharing concerning violenceagainst Indigenous women, girls, andLGBTQ2S people;• More information concerning theperformance of programs and strategiesmeant to address violence againstIndigenous women, girls, and LGBTQ2Speople;• Properly resourced programming thataddresses violence against Indigenouswomen, girls, and LGBTQ2S people to be led by Indigenous peoples, especiallyElders, Indigenous women, Two-Spiritand trans people, and Indigenouswomen’s organizations;• More frequent and accessibletransportation services available toIndigenous women, girls, and LGBTQ2Speople;• More representative police forces withbetter resourced Indigenous liaisonofficers and units in local police forces;• More immediate, proactive, andthorough investigations into Indigenouswomen’s, girls’, and LGBTQ2S people’sdeaths and disappearances;• More responsive, transparent, andaccountable policing (includingcomprehensive and independent policeoversight);• More culturally responsive and accessiblevictim services;• Better supported community-based firstresponse (search and rescue);• Public commemoration of missing andmurdered Indigenous women and girls.All recommendations aimed at endingviolence and keeping Indigenous women,girls, and LGBTQ2S people safe shouldinclude a decolonizing approach that recognizesthe inherent jurisdictions of IndigenousPeoples, that solutions should stem fromIndigenous communities and Nations, andthat these solutions should be properlyresourced by the appropriate jurisdictions.C A L L S F O RIMMEDIATE ACTIONThe National Inquiry calls forimmediate action for:1. Implementation of all Calls to Actionof the Truth and ReconciliationCommission, particularly those thatimpact Indigenous women and children,including the immediate implementationof Jordan’s Principle and the immediateand full implementation of the UnitedNations Declaration on the Rights ofIndigenous Peoples as a framework forreconciliation, and including a federalaction plan, strategies, and other concretemeasures to achieve the goalsof UNDRIP;2. Full compliance with the CanadianHuman Rights Tribunal ruling(2016) that found that Canada wasracially discriminating against FirstNations children.N A T I O N A L I N Q U I R YP R O C E D U R A LRECOMMENDATIONSAlong with the endorsement of existing recommendationsthat can immediately addresssystemic violence and its underlying causes, theNational Inquiry recommends the following:3. That the federal government find a wayto provide the contact information ofthe families and survivors who participatedin the pre-Inquiry process to theNational Inquiry. Alternatively, that thefederal government provide familiesand survivors who participated in thepre-Inquiry process information on howto participate in the National Inquiry.4. That federal, provincial, and territorialgovernments provide project funding,in addition to regular operationalfunds, to help ensure Indigenousorganizations’ full and meaningfulparticipation in the National Inquiry.5. That the federal government establish acommemoration fund in collaborationwith national and regional Indigenousorganizations (including Indigenouswomen’s organizations) and in partnershipwith family coalitions, Indigenousartists, and grassroots advocates whohave spearheaded commemorationevents and initiatives related tomissing and murdered Indigenouswomen, girls and LGBTQ2S peopleThat the federal government immediatelyprovide additional funding to HealthCanada’s Resolution Health Support Programand expand its services to meet theincreased needs flowing from the NationalInquiry’s work, and at a minimum forthe duration of the National Inquiry.7. That Health Canada’s Resolution HealthSupport Program provide funding to Indigenousorganizations and other serviceproviders (including provincial and territorialgovernments) through contributionagreements and transfer funds to providethe necessary health supports to familiesand survivors participating in the NationalInquiry’s Truth-Gathering Process andengaging in its commemoration activities.8. That the federal government undertakean engagement process with families,survivors, Indigenous organizations,and the National Inquiry to investigatethe feasibility of restoring theAboriginal Healing Foundation.9. That the federal government workcollaboratively with provinces andterritories to create a national police taskforce to which the National Inquiry couldrefer families and survivors to assess orreopen cases or review investigations.10. Given the short timeframe of the NationalInquiry and the urgency of establishingrobust administrative structures andprocesses, that the federal governmentprovide alternatives and options to itsadministrative rules to enable the NationalInquiry to fulfill the terms of its mandate.

OTTAWA, Nov. 1, 2017 The Commissioners of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (NI-MMIWG) are releasing the interim report, meeting their November 1 deadline. The 118-page report entitled, Our Women and Girls are Sacred outlines what the NI-MMIWG has accomplished to date, acknowledges challenges in establishing a unique and unprecedented National Inquiry of this nature and makes some recommendations for immediate support to assist families that want to participate in the process, including a call to extend the timelines. Most importantly, the Interim Report serves as the blueprint for moving the National Inquiry forward in a good way.

The NI-MMIWG is unprecedented because it covers 14 jurisdictions and looks at the issue of violence against Indigenous women, girls, and LGBTQ2S people in a manner that is culturally centered. The Truth Gathering Process has four fundamental components: research, Community Hearings, Institutional Hearings, and Expert Hearings. The overall process strives to put families and survivors first while honouring those who have been taken.

After some initial challenges, the NI-MMIWG has gained momentum with Indigenous women, girls, transgendered and two-spirited people and families stepping forward to share their important stories. We are determined to keep moving forward in a good way – for the 905 and counting – who want to participate in the National Inquiry. To date, the NI-MMIWG has heard 269 testimonies over three hearings – spanning from Yukon, British Columbia and Manitoba – with one happening today in Membertou, Nova Scotia. There are also six more scheduled to happen until January 2018.

While the National Inquiry for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls is only part-way through its mandate and mission, the Interim Report includes three immediate calls to action for the Government of Canada to:

Work collaboratively with provinces and territories to create a national police task force to which the National Inquiry could refer families and survivors to assess or reopen cases or review investigations.Establish a commemoration fund in collaboration with families, survivors and national and regional Indigenous organizations.Provide additional funding to Health Canada's Resolution Health Support Program to expand its services to meet the increased needs flowing from the National Inquiries work, at a minimum, for the duration of the National Inquiry.Indigenous women make up nearly one quarter of homicide victims in Canada and are 12 times more likely to be missing or murdered than any other women in Canada today.

In Our Women and Girls are Sacred, the NI-MMIWG's Chief Commissioner Marion Buller and Commissioners Brian Eyolfson, Qajaq Robinson and Michèle Audette, outline the next steps as follows:

We have many more truths to hear through the Community Hearings model we have established.We need to re-explore the time we have to hear from the growing number of families and survivors registered to share their stories (905 to date) and properly look at all forms of violence, while building a foundation for community-based solutions. In practical terms, we believe this means extending the timeframe mandated to complete this inquiry.We will establish the Institutional Hearings Process where we will question various jurisdictions and public institutions on the systemic forms of violence, racism and abuse that our women and girls have suffered at the hands of these parties.We will convene expert panels of Indigenous and non-Indigenous participants to examine overarching themes such as the human rights of Indigenous women and girls.Quote

"With the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls' Interim Report, we are able to reflect on what we have learned after months of research and the living experience of establishing an Inquiry of this magnitude.

Our women, girls and two-spirited people and their families continue to suffer from violence today and we know that they are re-traumatized as they tell their stories to us. That is why this Interim Report calls for the immediate increased support both financially and for counselling services for families and survivors. The need is much greater than the Inquiry can serve in an on-going manner.

The National Inquiry will continue to focus on what matters most: providing a safe space and enough time for families and survivors to tell their truths. It is these truths that will inform our recommendations to address the widespread systemic violence that Indigenous woman, girls and two-spirited people face, every day in Canada."

In response to calls for action from Indigenous families, communities and organizations, as well as non-governmental and international organizations, the Government of Canada launched an independent National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in September 2016.

The National Inquiry is entirely independent from federal, provincial and territorial governments. The Commissioners' mandate is to examine and report on the systemic causes of all forms of violence against Indigenous women and girls in Canada by looking at patterns and underlying factors.

The NI-MMIWG will continue to hear from family members and survivors, front-line workers ranging from the legal to family services sector to academics, educators, Elders and Knowledge Keepers as the Commissioners continue to find the truth, honour the truth, and give live to the truth as a path to healing.

Quick Facts:

The federal government's report on the pre-Inquiry engagement process was based on the feedback from more than 2,100 people, over 4,100 online survey responses and more than 300 other submissions. Pg. 29The National Inquiry has analyzed 98 reports on violence against Indigenous women and girls in Canada. Pg. 33Indigenous women are physically and sexually assaulted, or robbed almost three times as often as non-Indigenous women. Pg. 8Indigenous women experience domestic violence more frequently, and more severely, than do non-Indigenous women. More often (52% versus 31%) Indigenous women in these situations fear for their lives. Pg. 8In Manitoba, Indigenous women made up 86% of women admitted to prison in 2014/15, but only 14% of the general female population. Pg. 8Statistics Canada reports that people who identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual are violently victimized nearly five times as often as people who identified as heterosexual. Pg. 8In 2016, over 90% of children in care in Manitoba were Indigenous. Pg. 10Stay ConnectedTwitter: @MMIWGHashtags: #MMIWGWebsite: A copy of the Interim Report Our Women and Girls are Sacred can be downloaded at National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls http://www.mmiwg-ffada.caTelephone: 1-844-348-4119

SOURCE National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Woman and Girls